Superhero smackdown: The top 10
Here's the $64,000 question: In the event of a world-threatening cataclysm--think some humongous alien or no-goodnik evil genius on a rampage--who gets the SOS? Here's our list of finalists. Apologies in advance if your fave failed to make the cut. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to find a bum in the bunch.
Batman
I have to confess to having had a soft spot for Batman from the first time I saw the campy television portrayal starring Adam West in the 1960s. But I'm not alone. Earlier this year, Batman finished second on IGN's Top 100 comic book heroes of all time. And why not? Not only is the Caped Crusader super cool--as Bruce Wayne he's a wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, and playboy--but he's also got the kind of combat chops that allowed him to qualify as the only human without super powers to belong to the Justice League. No small notch in his bat belt.
Recent movie incarnations paint a darker, more complex figure of Batman, but those portrayals make him all the more compelling to a modern viewership that can identify with a less-than perfect and conflicted personality in an unforgiving world.
Strong consideration for the No. 1 spot, but alas, he is only human.
Wonder Woman
True story: Wonder Woman is the creation of William Moulton Marston, who also invented the first functional lie detector polygraph.
Wonder Woman isn't here simply for the sake of gender fairness. She's as bad as any of the boys, and with her Lasso of Truth (which demands the truth of whomever it brings down) Wonder Woman ranks as one of the more formidable superheros.
As a super-heroine, she relied on agility and cunning to take on all comers. On one occasion, she even beat Batman. Still, there's the still unsettled question of how an Amazon would fare against an opponent with the strength of a Hulk. She's durable but not invulnerable. File this one away as fodder for a barroom debate.
Incredible Hulk
Speaking of the Hulk, you know that old saying that anything that doesn't kill you will make you stronger? Well, imagine the kind of stud that emerges after surviving a zapping by a gamma bomb. So it was that Dr. Bruce Banner got turned into the Incredible Hulk, a perennially pissed-off giant who manages to always find himself pitted against the U.S. Army.
Is he a man or a monster? That's a question left to readers by the character's creator, Stan Lee, who said the inspiration for the Hulk grew out of his desire to combine Jekyll and Hyde with Frankenstein.
What he gave us was a sulky, misunderstood misanthrope with enormous wrecking capacity. This is a specimen that can cross continents with a single bound! The lingering question mark about the Hulk is his self-control--or more precisely, lack thereof. Face it: The boy has issues. Meanwhile, Dr. Banner struggles to control his inner Hulkiness, which can come out simply by the release of adrenaline. (You can read more about the Hulk's background .)
If the Hulk could ever get his anger under control - well, then he wouldn't be the Hulk. But he's a bit of brute to ever make it to the top spot.The Green Lantern
The Green Lantern possesses one of the universe's most powerful weapons--a power ring whose energy gives off the green light of willpower. This little ornament can blast away just about anything in its way, and that's a power to be reckoned with. (The amount of power depends upon the willpower of the user.) The enormous power at the disposal of the ring holder means the Green Lantern figures in any discussion of the most powerful superheros.
Considering that the ring also can generate kryptonite radiation, a fight-to-the-death confrontation between Green Lantern and Superman could pose particular problems for the Man of Steel. Some Green Lanterns, as they were called, did lapse and fall in with a bad crowd. Happily for the rest of us, most of the 7,200 Green Lanterns who serve in an intergalactic police force have not (yet) gone over to the dark side.
Thor
At 6 feet 6 inches and 640 pounds, Thor swings a mean hammer called Mjolnir, which helped him earn a reputation as the greatest warrior in his magical realm of Asgard. One wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this big fella. His strength is considered to be on a par with the Hulk. But as an ace in the hole, he's also the Norse god of Thunder. Not a bad line on the resume.The Flash
If you can't see him, you can't hit him. We're not talking about Sandy Koufax, though the same could have been said of the great Dodger southpaw. This description applies to Barry Allen, better known to comics fans as The Flash (as well as the three generations of Scarlet Speedsters who followed him).
Allen got his superpowers when a lightning bolt knocked open a case of chemicals that splashed on him. That work accident left him with extraordinary speed and reflexes--he even bested Superman in a foot race. The upshot is bad news for the bad guys. Always effective and always reliable, the Flash deserves his place in the upper echelons of the pantheon.
Captain America
Making his debut during World War 2, Captain America made formidable use of his star-spangled shield of special steel and vibranium to take down the nation's Axis enemies. Helped by injections of a "super-soldier serum" and exposure to a burst of "vita-rays," Captain America got transformed by the army into a "nearly perfect human being," in the words of the formula's inventor.
Like Batman, Captain America does not possess superhuman powers. But he is nonetheless a mighty fighting machine. What's more, his body's ability to reproduce the effects of the original serum injection ensure that he maintains superhuman stamina. This genetically enhanced warrior can lift as much as a couple of tons and has been clocked running as fast as 50 kilometers per hour. But like Wonder Woman, he's limited compared with the others up for consideration. When it comes to staving off some super-bad extra-terrestrial danger, my concern is that Captain America will need some help.
Spider-Man
I suppose there's a little of Peter Parker in all of us. The average guy struggling through life, trying to make ends meet. Just so happens that Parker is endowed with extraordinary powers thanks to a bite he received from a radioactive spider. Normally, that would be enough to screw up most folks' day. But as Spider-Man, Parker has a spider's sixth sense that alerts him to the presence of danger.
In a pinch, he can climb walls, tie up opponents by shooting them with webbing, and deliver a super knock-out punch when necessary (he once flattened a T-Rex with a single blow). Spiderman also possesses a rare ability to self-repair after suffering injury. That comes in handy as he is susceptible to the effects of anti-spider pesticides using ethyl chloride and can be injured by gun shots. But through the decades, Spider-Man has proved more than a handful for sundry evil-doers, as he demonstrated by defeating the notorious rogues that Doctor Octopus assembled under the umbrella of his Sinister Six. Like the Flash, Spider-Man is a serious contender for the title, though his vulnerability to man-made weapons is a mark against him.
Dial "S" for Superman
Was there ever any doubt about the proper pecking order? In their less charitable moments, some of his fellow superheros have occasionally referred to Superman as "the big blue Boy Scout." No secret for the putdown: After all, we're talking about the personification of "truth, justice and the American way." But with all due respect to the other super-duper types, they broke the mold when Superman landed on planet Earth.
Even a 1992 issue reporting Superman's demise in a battle to the death with the Doomsday killing machine (saving Metropolis in the process) wasn't enough to do away with the Man of Steel. Superman managed to return in a subsequent edition.
Just as James T. Kirk is the go-to guy when there's danger afoot, who would you rather have slugging it out with anatomically absurd, mad-snorting alien mutants with mayehm on their minds? There's only one phone number to call: You dial "S" for Superman.